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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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In Spring 1989, audiophiles may not have known about Totem Acoustic. Certainly, I did not. Instead, you wrestled with your upcoming senior prom. Your school had a forest of girls, but after being with, and competing against, them all these years, you felt awkward, asking them out. I figured, "These girls have always rejected me. What makes me think they'll say yes to prom?"
So I asked a sophomore, KJ, who, in all honesty, would be more fun as a date, versus most of the senior girls. The problem was, as an underclassman, KJ might flake. Getting her parents' permission was a challenge. And then, she knew even less about dresses, flowers, expectations, courtesy, and finances than you. She could be nervous, self-conscious, and intimidated by all of the seniors. Your fellow seniors snickered, laughed, and ridiculed you. And some of the girls huffed, "What an insult, taking a sophomore over us!"
My senior prom, titled Make It Last Forever [the Keith Sweat song], was held at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco. Lo and behold, the 1997 Stereophile Show was held at that same hotel. KJ went with me, and it felt weird, having an audio show, at the same venue as my senior prom. However, with so many of us stinky and overweight male audiophiles, KJ (shaped like Kung Fu Panda) no longer felt embarrassed about her own body type, B.O., and weight.
And that was the first time we saw and heard the Totem Forest floorstanding speaker. A pair was placed close together, flanking a single-column audio rack. But it rocked! Totem's Vince Bruzzese said that when he walked though a forest, its air was not the same as urban Montreal's. He said that the wind going through the canopy was not the same as city traffic. He said that when you walked on trails, and stepped on sticks, those sounds were not the same as walking on Montreal's sidewalks. His goal with the Forest was to turn the musical adventure into a walk through the woods. Not having heard Vince talk about the current-production Sky, let us find out if it follows in the Forest's footsteps through the woods.
On account of the small rooms in San Francisco, the Forest did not sell well there. When I brought one to my parents' 15x15 room (in the photo above, St. Mary's Cathedral blocks the view of my parents' place), the Forest boomed worse than my old Thiel CS1.5.
In the late-90s, while hanging out at SF's Ultimate Sound, a customer said he had the Totem Forest, and invited me and KJ to his house. I don't know where the borders of Albany, Berkeley, and Kensington lie, but this guy lived in a single-story, bungalow-style home, with the wide front porch. While awaiting our arrival, this guy sat on that porch. And of course, he offered alcohol.
His living room was about the same size as my parents'. However, instead of a single doorway to the dining room and kitchen, his house had a small wall in the middle, with two openings on either side. He placed his stereo in front of this narrow wall. His Totem Forest was relatively close to each other. The two openings flanking the Forest's rear prevented bass boom. I don't recall the electronics and cables, but on Aerosmith's "Young Lust," the Forest ROCKED!!!
In 2004, while our house was being rebuilt, my wife and I stayed in a small 1-bedroom apartment. The Totem Model 1 Signature remained at my parents' place. And we used a Totem Arro in the apartment, which told us that we should get the larger Forest, for when our house (whose living room is roughly 19x15) was ready. And when we did move in, the Forest's portrayal of the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby" and Steely Dan's "Do It Again" and "My Old School" remain the best we've had here.
However, the Forest does not spike into the ground. So when your kids start to stand and walk, you risk the Forest being tipped over. No bueno. So we got the smaller, stand-mounted The One instead.
In 2010, I worked the US Census. When you met up with other Enumerators, you talked. We just assumed one 40-something guy with a blonde ponytail was "White." But this being the Census, he claimed to be Native American. But he was also an audiophile. When I named Totem's The One, he said, "No way! I have the Forest!" So we now had a perfect excuse to meet at his house, which was near the San Leandro marina.
He must have removed the ceiling from his living room. With the pitched roof, white drywall, and exposed wooden beams, his cherry Totem Forest certainly added to the decor. He did have large feathers on a wall. But oh man, he played Sade's "The Moon And The Sky," and it was as though the fog-free, early evening sunset would go on forever...
Similar to that East Bay audiophile's bungalow, my living room has a large opening to the hallway, behind the right channel's loudspeaker. Bass dissipates through that opening, which allows you to place the speaker closer to the back wall. Given that the Sky projects the midrange forward, and into the room, it is a good thing, that the Sky should be close to the rear wall. This quality also makes the Sky ideal for surround sound's rear channels.
Nah, the Sky is not about distant, wide open views and soundscapes. It is more immediate, gripping, and like looking down, at where you are stepping. Instead of seeing the forest, the Sky is more like scanning the "bubble" around you. Or, it is like getting down, and swishing around tide pools.
Assuming everything upstream is competent, the Sky has somewhat narrower soundstage width, than depth. The Sky simply does not possess the Forest's power, stomp, and punch. But the Sky does have pep, energy, and rasp. It does not have the Forest's breath and air, but the Sky does have small, focused, and detailed imaging. This smaller-scaled sound is like a city block, with the large hotels lurking nearby. Or, it is like being in your room, preparing for prom. If that means you never feel old, great!
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Topic - Totem Sky, Part 7 - Luminator 00:50:13 03/6/21 (2)
- RE: Totem Sky, Part 7 - fantja 20:58:47 03/6/21 (1)
- The Sky is meant for apartments and other small spaces - Luminator 17:41:16 03/8/21 (0)
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